The perfect gift
by Butterflywing
Summary: It's Danny's birthday, but with all these ghosts around, there's no way he's going to have time to enjoy it!


"Happy Birthday, Danny!"

Danny Fenton opened his eyes to see his older sister standing above him, grinning in a thoroughly over-peppy manner. "Jazz, it's"-

"10:07, and that's way too late for you to be in bed, especially on your birthday."

"Jazz, can you just… go away? It's the first day of winter break, it's not like I have to get up and go to school tomorrow."

"Well you're getting up anyway."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

Danny gasped as a sudden blue mist escaped his mouth. "Ok… maybe I am getting up."

He stood up on his bed and allowed the two blue rings to form around his waist, and then split, on going up and one going down. In a matter of moments, the black haired, blue-eyed fourteen-year-old (No- fifteen-year-old, it was his birthday) was replaced with a white haired green-eyed ghost, with a curious white symbol on his chest. If one looked carefully, one might say it looked like a fancy D. If one looked even _more_ carefully, one might notice that the way the D split at the bottom made it seem that a P was hidden somewhere in there.

Danny hovered a little over his bed and looked down at his sister. "But as soon as I come back I'm going back to bed, okay?"

His sister just groaned and headed out of his room.

But Danny never got the chance to get back inside his bed, not for a while at least.

The ghost that originally set off his ghost sense was the Box Ghost, much to Danny's relief. That fight only lasted around thirty seconds, but just as Danny was capping the thermos (now containing the Box Ghost), his ghost sense went off (again) and he turned around to see Skulker floating there.

Two hours, seven ghosts, and a bruised rib-cage later, Danny floated down to the park to rest for a minute. He never got a chance because right at that moment, something flew past him, crashing into his head.

Danny cursed and rubbed his head, then bent to pick up the missile. It was a toaster. A toaster?

He turned around and saw hundreds of electronic gadgets traveling through the air, headed towards the center of town. Technus' work, obviously.

Danny sighed and flew off to confront the technology obsessed ghost.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"What are you doing?" Danny yelled at Technus five minutes later.

Technus looked at him, and then said, "Trying to take over your world, ghost child! Because Technus is hip and funky fresh!"

Danny rolled his eyes, "No, I meant how come every single ghost in the ghost zone choose today to suddenly attack Amity Park? Who's next, Pariah?"

"No, ghost child! At least I hope not! The Christmas truce is in only a few days, and we are eager to make up for lost time!"

Danny rolled his eyes and sucked Technus into the thermos. The electronic gadgets that had been revolving around Technus suddenly crashed to the ground. Danny got hit with someone's Wii and (another) toaster.

He dropped to the ground, but there would be no rest for him there either. Two neon green blasts rushed towards him. One clipped his side, and the other… met the Fenton thermos strapped to his back, freeing all nine spirits Danny had caught that morning. He spun around to see his parents, both aiming… large guns at him.

"Can't you guys lay off for one day? All I wanted for my birthday was no ghosts to fight, and hopefully not you guys either, but no, apparently that's too much to ask!"

That being said, he turned intangible and invisible and flew off (at 112 miles per) towards Fenton Works.

Although he didn't know it, he had left one of his parents with some food for thought.

When Jack and Maddie Fenton returned home, Danny was sitting on the couch next to Jazz. As soon as the two crossed the threshold, she pushed them across the room, sitting them down too. "You two are going to give Danny his presents now. Okay?"

Both her parents agreed, and Maddie hurried upstairs to her bedroom, while Jack clattered down the basement stairs. Both Fenton children watched him, somewhat nervously.

Eventually, both Fenton parents reappeared in the living room, Maddie holding a brightly wrapped gift tied with a bow (Her specialty- no one else in the family could tie bows like she could), and Jack holding an old Target © bag.

Danny opened his mom's first. As he took it, he heard his mom whisper to his dad, "I thought we agreed to only give him one gift this year."

His dad just shrugged.

"I thought…"

Danny cut his dad off, as he had just finished ripping off the decorative wrapping on his mother's present to reveal…

"Wow, mom! A scale model of the Apollo 11! **(A/N: One of my favorite movies is about the Apollo 11- If you've never seen The Dish you totally have to.)** Thanks, mom!"

"Now open mine!" Jack pushed the bag into his son's lap, who after a moment's hesitation opened it.

It was a Fenton thermos.

"Um… thanks dad," said Danny, "This is… great?" Secretly he was grateful- he was wondering how he was supposed to fight ghosts without a thermos, since his dad had ruined his last one.

There was a moment's awkward silence, then Maddie said, "Who wants cake?" and they all moved towards the kitchen.

Later that night, Danny lay on his bed, studying the new thermos. It was nicer than his last one- bigger, with a fingerprint coded 'release' button, Danny noted with humor. Maybe Tucker would finally be allowed to manage the thermos.

Suddenly he saw something engraved on the bottom of the cylinder. A single word, one that he had come to know well.

Phantom.

He opened the thermos. A single slip of paper fluttered out.

_Because I shot your old one._

_I'm proud of you._

**Ok, yes. I know this is a really stupid story, but it's been bugging me. I got the idea because it's my birthday today… Happy thirteenth to me! Anyway, here you go. Stupid story. Ah well. Don't own DP. Or Target.**


End file.
